Two new releases
Markus has recently released a new solo album: "Sultry Kissing Lounge". The album features a selection of soundscapes that he played as the opening pieces to The Crimson Projekct's recent European Tour. Another project that is imminent is the public release of "Todmorden 513 - Concerto for Orchestra" which has so far only been available to pledgers and TCP concert visitors. TM513 will be oficially released on June 17. Make sure you visit www.todmorden513.com for upcoming info and features, and also see the brand new www.breaking513.com for Jack Casadone's documentary feature on the project. - TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

19.03.2014
Markus is currently on a big European tour with The Crimson ProjeKCt. For dates please see here, and see Markus' official Facebook page for frequent updates by Markus and his team. - TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

04.01.2014

Time flies, and here we are with another quick update about Markus' recent and current activities! First of all, Markus and team would like to wish you a happy new year! 2013 has been very eventful for Markus, and the new year looks to become just as busy, if not more so.

This is the second award after Namgar's (as of yet unreleased) "Dawn of the Foremothers" album, which Markus co-wrote and produced, won the Sergey Kuryokhin award for best experimental ethnic music album 2013 in St. Petersburg last spring. So it would seem that in 2013, Markus' work and that of his close collaborators has begun to gain some attention and recognition in places outside of the immediate usual circles. Speaking of Namgar, Markus played another show with the Namgar Project in Moscow, an improvised set with Namgar and featured as a guest in a performance of composer Vladimir Martynov's "Children of the Otter". More Stick Men and The Crimson ProjeKct dates have also arrived, all of which you can find on the "Upcoming Concerts" page as usual. Please be advised that the TCP Australian and New Zealand shows have been re-scheduled to June (read the promoter's official statement here and will be announced here and on the TCP website as soon as they're available.

In terms of releases, Markus has been busy on the production side. He's had a hand in all three recent solo outings by the members of centrozoon, all of which have since been released as downloads: He's mastered his live concert from October 5th, "Live in Bethlehem", available as a pay-what-you-want download here.

He's also mastered Bernhard's "Live in Cologne 2013" album, and in September he mixed and co-produced Tobias' "Kola". Furthermore, Markus features on a track (number 6) on Billy Bottle & the Multiple's recent album, "Unrecorded Beam", produced by Lee Fletcher. It almost goes without saying that work is always in progress on the CD/DVD release of "Todmorden 513", Markus' 60 minute "Concerto for Orchestra", recorded in April in Denver, Colorado. We're happy to announce that the release date for the project has now been confirmed for the world premiere's first anniversary, April 18th, 2014.

As always, lots more is going on, and will be announced in due time. And also as always, visit Markus' Facebook profile for more frequent mini-updates about his work, or send us an email! - TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

2013.10.30

Here's another short update about a long list of recent activities! As announced in the last batch of news, Markus played the WOMAD Russia Festival with Namgar in September, and everybody involved agreed that the gig went great. So did the solo US shows in October, which included a professionally filmed duo concert with Tim Motzer. A low resolution version of the 90 minute live stream production (which couldn't be transmitted due to technical problems) can be viewed online for a few more days here.

The US stint also included a recording session with the amazing Angelica Sanchez and Tony Geballe for a future release, and the third Touch Guitar Circle seminar co-led by Markus and Trey Gunn in Seattle. Another course is now likely to happen in South America in the first half of 2014 - we'll post news as soon as we have them.

Many new tour dates are now also listed on the "Upcoming gigs" page, including another Namgar concert in Russia, The Crimson ProjeKct's first concerts in New Zealand and Australia as well as their first and extensive European tour. There's a leg of Stick Men touring on the west coast of the USA in January and the Cruise to the Edge in April as well.

As always, much is also going on in terms of audio production and mixing in addition to the usual heavy organizing and strategizing. We'll be able to present new releases soon. For now, the most recent Boddy/Reuter collaboration Colour Division is barely a month old, and we highly recommend you give it a listen! - TR / info@markusreuter.com

Has it really been 1 1/2 months already since the last update? A lot has happened since mid-July, and a lot is going on at the moment. The Touch Guitar Circle Seminar with Trey Gunn and Markus in Inzing, Austria was a big success for all involved, and a great next step for the TGC. Trey has recently blogged about it here and you'll find a short video from one of the music sessions at the end of this post. Markus hit the road directly afterwards, touring in the US with Stick Men and following up with a couple of dates in Italy and Germany. He's currently back in Germany before flying to Pyatigorsk later in September to play the famed WOMAD Russia festival with Namgar, for whom he's also assuming the role of musical director. Markus will then be returning to the US in October for solo concerts in King of Prussia, Philadelphia and New York, and the third Touch Guitar Circle seminar with Trey in Seattle. See the "upcoming concerts" section for updated live dates and the TGC website for info on the Seattle course.

In terms of releases, lots of effort is still going into the Todmorden 513 CD/DVD release. There really are a lot of threads to keep together and parts to match, but it will be very much worth the effort. We can't wait to share it. The next release will be the new collaboration album with Ian Boddy called Colour Division, which will be released on October 8 on Ian's DiN label. The stereo mix of TUNER's "FACE" album is also completed, a crowd funding campaign for a 5.1 mix and nice packaging are currently being looked into. We also have the fresh news that there will be Stick Men, TUNER and Todmorden 513-related apps. We are currently talking with developers about this.

As always, see the Markus Reuter Facebook page for more regular updates and interaction, or get in touch with us at info(at)markusreuter.com. - TR

2013.07.19

Hi all, here's a quick roundup of what Markus has been up to and what he is working on at the moment.

Markus has been composing a lot of new music recently - recordings for a new solo ambient album are in the can, and work on pieces for a "rock album" as well as two new orchestral pieces is well under way. However, after the successful PledgeMusic campaign, Todmorden 513 postproduction will remain the creative focus for some time yet, and the work is also the main priority of our current promotional activities. We are in the process of assembling Group 33, a street team with the aim to carry the word about Markus and his work further out into the world. Please write to info(at)markusreuter.com if you're interested in participating, and we'll provide you with further information.

Next week will see the second Touch Guitar Circle seminar with Markus and Trey Gunn after last year's successful premiere. Markus will head to the USA immediately after the course for a short tour with Stick Men, followed by a couple of European Dates. September might see some concerts with Namgar, but that is still in the works, and in October Markus will be back in the US for a couple of solo concerts and another Touch Guitar Circle seminar with Trey in Seattle. Please check the upcoming dates section regularly for updated itinerary, visit www.touchguitarcircle.com for infos on the Seattle course and watch Markus' Facebook page for all the freshest info.

Recent releases include the Fletcher | Fletcher | Reuter cover version of Mike Oldfield's "Island" which was released on Lee's Bandcamp page as a digital single in June. In October, the new Boddy/Reuter CD "Colour Division" will be released on Ian Boddy's DiN label (as DiN43). Markus and Tobias have also finished producing the Blast Unicorn debut album - read and hear more about this very unique project on the Blast Unicorn Facebook page. - TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

2013.05.4

Status update, TM513 premiere, etc.

I have been on the road for almost 8 weeks. There was a tour of Japan, the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the premiere of TM513, continuing work on the new Boddy/Reuter album, and most recently the mix/production of the 'Blast Unicorn' album. I'm on a roll, and I hope to find the time to write more new music very soon. There are several new ideas that need to get out!

For now, please have a listen to a 13-minute excerpt of TM513, performed by the Colorado Chamber Orchestra.

Markus has just returned from Denver, Colorado, where he worked on the orchestral score of Todmorden 513 together with arranger/conductor Thomas Blomster, and an orchestral rendition of his piece "Mariola". Reading rehearsals and classes with the Colorado Chamber Orchestra (Todmorden 513) and the Youth Orchestra of the Rockies (Mariola) went very well. Filmmaker Jack Casadone flew in to document the process and interview Markus and Thomas. It is our intention to make some of this material available quickly - more on this soon. Meanwhile, here's a short video recorded by Whitney Leary. - TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

2013.01.16

2012 in review

For the second post today, here's a quick round up of most of Markus' public work in 2012:

Markus has played more than 70 concerts this past year. Concert-wise, 2012 began with the final two gigs of centrozoon's We Will Tongue You Tour, followed by Stick Men tours in North America, South America, Russia and the UK. June and July were spent touring with The Crimson ProjeKct, opening for Dream Theater on a massive North American tour, while October and November saw an expansive Stick Men tour covering mainland Europe.

"It was again very rewarding to get conformation that my systematic and disciplined touch guitar practice has prepared me well for touring and playing a repertoire", says Markus, "but I also feel that my playing benefitted a lot from the many concerts, and that my understanding of certain aspects gained in depth." This resulted in considerable developments in The Family, as Markus calls the set of exercises cultivated in the Touch Guitar Circle, and the addition of the New Daughter, the Godmother and the Stepfather exercises.

In June, still before these additions, the Touch Guitar Circle held a one week seminar in Austria, with Trey Gunn and Markus teaching and working with a group of new and experienced touch style players from Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. This was considered a great success by all involved, and the Touch Guitar Circle hopes to present this course format again in the near future, and also on other continents.

After the Summer US Tour, Markus also guested at the Three Of A Perfect Pair camp hosted by Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto in Big Indian, NY, USA.

2012 was also another good year for new Reuter releases and productions. New albums on which Markus worked as a composer, player and (co-)producer include "Modus Novus" by the Quartet for the End of Time, "Same Time Next Life" by Adrian Benavides, the two versions of "Boner" as well as the "Fire" sessions by centrozoon, "Open" by Stick Men, "Faith in Worthless Things" by Lee Fletcher (featuring Markus Reuter and Lisa Fletcher) and "Lament", the duo album with Stephen Parsick.

Albums on which Markus produced but sometimes also played on include the "Echosystem" EP by Specimen 13 and the album "Form" by Alexander Dowerk's project, ZweiTon. The "Cool Drink Town" EP by SchnAAK was released while Markus also worked on their follow-up EP "SchnAAK and the Rundu Choir". Most prominently, Stick Men released "Open", an album of improvisations, and, after a successful crowd-funding campaign, the new studio album "Deep". Available only to pledgers so far, the official release is set for February 2013. In September Markus produced "The Dawn of the Foremothers" album by Namgar, also to be released in 2013.

In addition to that, producer Lee Fletcher and Markus launched "Older Than God", Lee's documentary feature film about Markus' work and his network of friends and collaborators, as an ongoing series of episodes on www.olderthangod.com.

Many exciting projects are in the works, the most prominent of which is the orchestral performance of "Todmorden 513" by noted conductor Thomas Blomster in Denver, CA on April 18. Markus and Tobias have been working on providing Thomas with the tons of complex data needed to orchestrate the piece, and Markus is currently staying with Thomas to help with the monumental task.

We're looking forward to regularly sharing the news on this with you here in the near future, so please check back often!
- TR / info(at)markusreuter.com

2013.01.16
Happy New Year! It's about time to share a bit of news: I'm happy to announce that Tobias Reber is now working for me as my personal assistant. He'll help manage my agenda and my many jobs, do business communication (info@markusreuter.com) and promotional work and assist with his music knowledge. We have been working together on projects such as centrozoon (Tobias also booked the We Will Tongue You Tour), Todmorden 513, in the Touch Guitar Circle and many others, so I'm excited about this new collaboration!

2012.11.01
I'm two weeks into the Europe DEEP tour with Stick Men. Here's a video of our concert at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival together with Terry Bozzio, filmed on October 27th by Arte TV. The tour will continue until November 25th, you can find all the dates here.

2012.10.04
I'm happy to announce that I'm currently producing Troy Jones' debut album, as well as the extremely exciting project 'Blast Unicorn'. I feel blessed to have these opportunities to stay at the cutting edge of music by working with great envelope-pushing artists.

Also, just completed, Stick Men's Deep album. Out very soon!

2012.09.26
I just produced an album for Namgar at Horus Studios, Hannover, with a cast of musicians from Russia, Mongolia, Germany and Switzerland.

Other great news: Thomas Blomster (of the Colorado Chamber Ensemble) has started with his orchestral arrangement of my piece Todmorden 513. This will hopefully lead to a performance some time in 2013. This is too good to be true and I'm thrilled!

2012.05.02
I just returned from a 10-day recording and touring project with Stick Men (with Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto).

We spent the first couple of days recording and mixing a "quick'n'dirty" improv album called 'Open' that will see it's release in South America next week and a general release to our fans on June 1st. A pre-order link will be made available soon. We're planning something very special for our proper new studio album and need all the support possible to make it happen.

After 2 rehearsals, during which we learned a couple of the new Stick Men pieces and a new (for me) King Crimson piece, we then played 6 nights of shows to wonderful audiences. We can't wait to go to South America next week to play more.

2012.04.22
2 days of recording, editing, mixing and it's in the can!

2012.04.20
This new website goes online! Most content is there, but it will get added to in the next couple of weeks, like interviews, press and video links.

I'm in Kingston, NY, and the production/recording for Stick Men's 'Open' has just started. We're recording/editing/mixing on my laptop (in Ableton Live). I'll keep you updated over the next couple of days.

2012.04.18
Driving to Munich today to pick up my visa for the USA. Just in time for my flight to NY tomorrow. I will record and tour with Stick Men for about 2 weeks.